Tag Archives: Steampunk

Looking at these LEGO steampunk models, you can almost hear the hiss of steam, the clank of gears, and the whirr of clockwork. The steampunk aesthetic isn’t all wood and brass, so be sure to check out all the colorful models alongside classic steampunk creations from around the world.

Steampunk ray gun goes pew pew, zap zap

Hey it’s me again, Jonathan Samson with a new creation for your perusal. When I originally wanted to create a ray gun, I started by building a couple of diodes – for inspiration I was trying a new sorting technique (pre-sorting into hues). I found I had an eclectic array of dark orange and dark tan pieces that seemed fit for purpose – round pieces for the barrel, a wing for the trigger and a bucketload of medium dark flesh crow’s nest elements for the pistol grip, so the diodes quickly got crystal downgrades and it became my first steampunk creation.

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The golden age of colonial Paris 1889

We are back visiting Paris in 1889 again with Castor Troy’s latest addition to his Steampunk-era rendition of the city. The Colonial Office has a striking black, white and gold color scheme with some beautiful architectural details. No expense has been spared in this particular office as a number of fancy gold elements can be found, such as the ornamental fences and, in particular, the Ninjago swords used in the roof to the far right. Castor has also created a great selection of minifigures to populate the uneven, grubby streets in front of the plush offices.

This is just one building in an incredible Paris 1889 collaboration, so you may enjoy another of Castor’s buildings that we highlighted a few weeks ago, The Lourve in 1889.

If one could only capture a little time

Whilst we tend to like our LEGO purist here at Brothers Brick, who doesn’t like to see a bell jar put to imaginative use? Peter Ilmrud does exactly that with a lovely steampunk chronograph packed into a small footprint inside a glass display cabinet. The clock’s design fits perfectly with the jar — both in size and shape, and in its neo-Victorian aesthetic.

Whilst the model is remarkable for the integration of the glass jar, the resulting reflections in the photo do get a little in the way of seeing the details within. Don’t miss this shot of the beautiful brass-effect scrollwork Peter has included around the clock face…

Sky-pirate flying fortress floats into view

Take a medieval castle, mash it up with a pirate ship, and then give the whole thing impulse engines, the ability to fly, and advanced weaponry. That’s W.Navarre‘s recipe for a truly original LEGO creation. This could have turned out a hot mess of a build, but there’s enough colour and texture continuity across the model to pull off the ambitious intent. The test of an unusual creative idea is “Does it make sense without having to be explained?” This model accomplishes exactly that — it’s immediately apparent you’re looking at a flying pirate castle ship. What more explanation do you need?

The rear portion is excellent. I love the integration of the engines and missile bay beneath the hull…

Set course for sunset, sailing amongst the clouds

Builder James Zhan calls this a Steampunk Airship, but it’s unlike others we’ve seen before. The steampunk style can sometimes be little more than an overlay of anachronistic technology, but this creation is stronger than that. It feels like a realistic flying pirate ship — if that’s possible!

James has a crew of Dwarven engineers for this craft, which perhaps explains the chunky solid feel of the machinery on display. A side view reveals the interesting cutaway section at the ship’s centre, giving a good view of the technical gubbins which serves to keep the vessel aloft.

Sky-Pirates ahoy!

Airships are one of the hardest types of aircraft to model accurately in LEGO. As a result, a good steampunk dirigible is a creation to be treasured. This fabulous sky pirates model by Thomas van Urk is a classic — a collection of steampunk staples (chequered envelope, boat-styled gondola, unlikely cannon-based armament) that soars effortlessly, somehow avoiding the risk of being grounded by genre tropes.

Whilst a sepia-tinted image is de rigeur for a steampunk vessel, this baby looks excellent in new-fangled colour. That red and black gas envelope is a stunner — the result of careful shaping using Mixel ball-and-socket joints, according to Thomas. The integration of the boat-hull gondola and domed pilot’s station is really nice too.

Lastly, don’t miss the elaborate rigging which runs all over the model. It’s touches like this which really elevate (!) this creation above its peers…

Every man is an island above an azure sea

John Donne wrote that “no man is an island”, but when it comes to LEGO creations, famous poets do not restrict your imagination. Ben Fitzsimmons has turned that saying around with his huge LEGO diorama depicting a multitude of islands each inhabited by wandering travellers. Each unique little island is a place for rest and trade above the expanse of dark azure ocean. This is a beautiful, fantastical build with a touch of steampunk. The islands are all full of creative buildings like the tall lighthouse on the far right, and nice landscaping such as the waterfall spilling back into the ocean and the colourful trees.

A closer look at one part of the diorama shows some of the fun details. I love the propeller-powered pack that one traveller is wearing to cruise between islands, while the use of the ‘hot air balloon part’ as a sail works well at this scale.

Ben’s diorama won the Steampunk category at Brickfair Virginia this year and I imagine the build was even more impressive to see in person.

Plunder the skies in your raid zeppelin

Of all modes of aerial transport, zeppelins are almost certainly the coolest (possibly because they are the least common). And while using one for raiding other aircraft may literally be the worst possible idea, that just adds to the fantasy. The sky pirates of The Travesty seem twice as crazy and intimidating for daring to raid aircraft in something as fragile as a zeppelin. The build is somewhat simple, using many large and specialized pieces, but Ted Andes manages to bring it all together quite well.

I may be biased by nostalgia for the Adventurers zeppelin piece, but I am sure the creation has something to offer for almost everybody. The deck looks like it was just slapped together and hardly supports the clutter it carries, which is exactly what one would expect from pirates. The light use of stickers breathes just that little extra life into the creation to make it quite memorable and recognizable.

Blade Runner 1849

We’ve seen excellent LEGO versions of the Blade Runner Police Spinner in the past, but as soon as I saw the title of the new movie I’ve been waiting for an 1849 steampunk remix. Jonas Kramm is happy to oblige with this clanky update (back-date?) of the classic sci-fi vehicle. The black piping makes for a pleasant change from the grey or gold steampunk builders tend to use for greebly details, and those brown whips uncurled against the dark blue panelling look excellent. The lanterns are a nice touch too.

Now to properly combine cyber and steam, what this really needs is a massive Neo-Victorian Neo-Tokyo diorama setting. Come on Jonas, what’s stopping you?

French revolution of steam-powered gears

We have spoken about the LEGO steampunk genre many times before, but for the uninitiated it is a genre of science fiction that has a historical, normally Victorian, setting and features steam-powered machinery. Castor Troy‘s latest creation adds to his growing Paris Steampunk 1889 display with the world’s largest museum, the Louvre. The architecture has been brilliantly captured using a host of smaller parts to add decorative features, ranging from Technic gears and monochrome tan minifigures to studs, slopes and droid body parts.

The larger glass pyramid has been replaced with an altogether different type of pyramid, worthy of a place in steampunk history.

Vroom vroom chugaboom

We’ve covered our fair share of LEGO hot rods, but here’s a refreshing steampunk take on the style from Martin Redfern. The scale used allows Martin to pack loads of smart touches into this delightful dark red automobile. I particularly like the front grille, the horn, and the driver himself — his pith helmet and monocle fixed firmly in place.

The vehicle’s engine is an obvious highlight, so I was delighted at this view which allows us to take a closer look at all the details Martin has lavished on the model…

An elegant carbine for a more civilised age

We see plenty of well-built LEGO recreations of weapons from videogames, and I’m full of admiration for the scale modelling skills on display. But I also love when builders produce something which doesn’t rely on existing sources for inspiration. This steampunk machine gun by Martin Redfern is a lovely model — full of chunky cartoony detail and classic ray gun styling. The bullets on the belt are excellent, and the flared muzzle and touches of gold give this a wonderful Flash Gordon feel. And don’t miss the use of a gold elephant trunk part for the trigger.

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